Tentering and drying machine



DeC 4, 1934- H. H. BELCHER TENTERING AND DRYING MACHINE Filed sept. 1o, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet l @wenn g l www Dec. 4, 1934. H. H. BELCHER l 1,933,264

TENTERING AND DRYING MACHINE Filed Sept. l0, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 l BY l l] 'A' l ATTORNEYS.

2L/MM gil Dec. 4,v 1934. H. H. BELCHER TENTERING AND DRYING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. l0, 1932 OOOOOO so Eff INVENTOR: Haw/a7 H. BeZCzeI',

BY m

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 4, 1934 PATENT OFFICE TENTERING AND DRYING Hal-011111. Belcher, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Philadelphia Drying Machinery Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September l0, -1932,-Serial No. 632,531

2 Claims.

This invention relates 'to tentering and drying machines such as are adapted to perform the operations of drying, tentering, cooling vand folding, etc, of freshly bleached or dyed fabrics in 5 preparation for storage or shipment.

Machines of the type referred to generally comprise a suitable chamber subdivided into successive drying zones with provisions for intercommunication, means to progress the material continuously through said zones, and means to circulate the treating medium therethrough and to replace a proportionate amount of the spent medium by fresh treating medium.

Primarily I aim to provide an improved machine, of the typified character, whereby the noted operations are continuously and more economically effected, than heretofore, in a minimum of time, with preassurance of uniformity in the appearance and' feel of the material treated.

Another object is to provide a tentering and drying machine devoid of partitions across the conveyor space so that the guiding means therefor is more readily accessible when the machine is empty, while corresponding facility for inspection and care ofthe heater means is better ensured than heretofore.

A further object is to attain va better circulation of thetreating medium by arranging centrifugal fans to produce anA even air ow, the velocity-pressure whereof is much more effective 4than that resulting from either the use of discwheel fans which create very little measurable `static-pressure, or that attained by blowers.

located at a greater distance from the fabric, with resultant less air effectiveness. In other words by my invention I am enabled to use a considerably greater volume of air for circulation through the fibers of the material treated than hitherto possible, with resultant increased economy and the turning out of a better product.

A still further object is to direct the treating medium so that it exerts a positive pressure on one side of thevmaterial, with a suction or slight vacuum on the other side, whereby said material is effectively retained on the tentering pins, at all times, during the treating period and delivered with a 'uniform lateral dimension throughout its entire length.

To the attainment of the foregoing and other objects, I have evolved and produced a simplified tentering and drying machine which is characterized by increased economy over known machines, practicability in its construction and the shape of its component parts, with other complemental features serving to produce a complete structural arrangement which is efficient, susceptible of ready installation or removal, as well as otherwise capable of better fulfilling all of the requirements essential to the proper tentering and drying of fabrics, and the like.

In the drawings:

Fig. I is a side elevation of a tentering and drying machine, embodying my improvements, partly in longitudinal section to better disclose certain otherwise hidden structural features.

Fig. II is a top plan view with the lower righthand portion broken out to better illustrate one of the fan casings, later on fully described.

Fig. III is a cross-sectional View of the machine, taken asindicated by the arrows III-III in Fig. II; and,

Fig. IV is a sectional view of one of the centrifugal fans with its associated casing, and ndicating by arrows how the treating medium is deflected and evenly distributed by the fan.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, my improved tentering and drying machine comprises an elongate chamber, comprehensively designated by the numeral l, while said machine is designed to receive wet material, such as cloth, from a previous manufacturing operation and stretch it to a predetermined width, as well as to effectively dry it while held at said width. The chamber l is of conventional construction, common in the art, with side walls 2, 3; end walls 4, 5; and a top 6; all of thermoinsulating material; and, at the forward end of said chamber, is an extension-framework 7, that affords support for the various means whereby the web material or fabric Fis delivered and guided into the machine and longitudinally tensioned.

The tenter or conveyor chains 8 are trained about a system of appropriate guide means comprising sprockets 9, suitably journaled in the chamber l, at the front or operating end of the machine, and around similar sprockets 10 at the rear end thereof. These sprockets 9, 10 are respectively mounted on shafts 11, l2, which preferably extend through the sides 2, 3 of the chamber 1 and are journaled in bearingsnot shownoutside of said chamber, in an obvious manner;

At the front or operating end of the machine the shafts 11, and sprockets 9, runidly, being roa tated merely by progression of the conveyor drives 13, 14, 15 to a prime mover or motor 16.-

PTI uv Or, if desirable the drives 13-15 may include a variable speed device 17.

After initial passage over the sprockets 9' in the framework 7, traversing back and forth through the chamber 1, the tenter or conveyor chains 8 return to the operating end of the machine around idler sprockets 9", also in said framework 7, and upwardly over feed sprockets 18, on a transverse shaft 19 in the extensionframework 7, to re-enter the machine by way of upwardly-directed diverging track sections 20. These track sections 20 are hinged at 21 to the tenter chain tracks 22, in the machine chamber l, whilesuitable means (not shown) is provided to vary the angle of divergence to suit the ,stretch requirements of the different fabrics to be tentered and dried.

The tenter or conveyor chain tracks 22 at one side (3 for example) of the chamber 1 are mounted on an appropriate frame 23, independent of the frame structure of the machine, and suitable means is provided to adjust the distance between the two paralleling chains 8. 'This adjuster means may conveniently comprise vupper and lower screws 24, 25, engaging through nuts 26, 27, respectively, mounted in the track frame 23 with chains 28 and sprockets 29 coordinating said screws for movement in unison. Worm wheels 30 fixed to the upper screws 24, engage worms 31 on a common line shaft 32, having a sprocket-andchain speed-reduction means 33 and belt-drive 34, from an independent motor 35 suitably supported at the rear end 5 of the machine. Obviously, other mechanical equivalents may be utilized for moving the track frame 23 laterally over suitable guide rails 36 at the top and bottom of the housing 1.

To follow the path of the material or fabric F l to be treated in the machine, and referring more particularly to Fig. I, it will be noted that it is first trained about rollers 37, below the operators platform 38, upwardly through tension bars 39, over a spreader bar 40, suction pipe 41 (if employed) and onto the tenter pins 42 of the chains 8 proximate the feed sprockets 18. 'I'he suction pipe 41 is part of a conventional vacuum-extractor attachment including a pump 41', driven by a motor 41 (Fig. II), for removing excess moisture from the fabric F, but is not necessarily an essential feature of my improved tentering and drying machine.

' The fabric F remains securely attached to the tenter pins 42 of the chains 8 as it passes back and forth through the machine, as later on more fully explained, but is removed therefrom near the point of egress out of the chamber 1, by passage about appropriate rollers 43 that conduct it to a conventional folder mechanism 44.

My improved tentering and drying machine is designed to permit a graduation in temperatures from the top to the bottom of the chamber 1. Fresh air enters the chamber 1 by way of an inlet opening or openings 45 in the lower part thereof, and is circulated in such lower region, without heating, in order to cool the fabric F before leaving the machine. The air gradually works its way upwardly through the chamber 1, being progressively circulated by centrifugal fans 46 and heated by radiators 47, conveniently although not essentially steam pipes, and is finally discharged from the top of the machine by an exhaust fan 48, driven by a motor 49 mounted on the roof 6 of the chamber 1. 'I'he fans 46 are relatively few. but are of a size and unrestricted mounting which ciency.

positively enables full use of their maximum em- In the illustrated embodiment of my invention, the fabric F makes twelve horizontal passes in the chamber 1, with one fan 46 on each vertical supporting shaft 50 serving three passes. These fans 46 are preferably of the multi-blade centrifugal blower type, and they are spacedly-arranged in proximate-pairs on vertical shafts 50, journaled in appropriate bearings 51; each said shaft being driven by suitable driving means 52 from individually associated motors 53. Attention is drawn to the bearings 51 which are all so situated that none of them are directly exposed to the drying medium, and to this end the lower bearings 51 are located at floor level in the cool air section of the chamber l, the intermediate bearings 51 being located in heat-insulated peck ets 54 of the side wall 2, for example, and the upper bearings 5l mounted on the top 6, as will be well understood from Figs. I and III, more particularly. j f

The centrifugal fans 46 are, as above stated, arranged in pairs and rotate within special housings 55 shaped to distribute the air in a uniform manner from the discharge area of said housings. In other words, the airissuing from the mid region of each housing 55 flows directly towards and across the fabric F continuously, while that discharging to the right and left thereof is similarly deflected directly across said fabric. These fan housings 55 are, as best shown by Fig. IV, of special contour in horizontal section; that is to say more specifically, each housing 55 embodies upper and lower horizontal walls 56 provided with slightly-flaring opposedly directed inlets 57, and a vertical wall 58 embodying a medial section 59, eccentrically-curved relative to the axis of rotation of the shaft 50 and merging into a portion 60 in flanking continuation of said me dial section or concaved toward the runs of the fabric F and having an inwardly-curved extremity or lip 61; and at the other side of the medial section 59 embodying an offset laterally-extend ing arcuate-sweep or shorter similarly-concaved portion 62, thus providing a discharge area substantially equally-divided relative to each side of the shaft 50. Formation of the wall 58 with the concaved portions 60, 62 to each side of a common point or junction a: near the periphery of the fan, and paralleling a plane passing through the axis of said fan and normal to the runs of the fabric F, ensures directly-lateral uniform distribution of the air transversely of the chamber 1, in the manner conventionally indicated by the arrows on Fig. IV, within the discharge confines of the housing 55 so that the full velocity pressure of the air discharged from each fan 46 is utilized to effect its even distribution across the chamber l within the limits of each said housing 55. In other Words, vthe air tangentially discharged by each fan 48 in the associated housing is gradually directionally turned by the parts 60,. 62 of the housing wall 58 for even distribution from the casing outlet directly across the chamber, in a manner which converts its velocity pressureinto static pressure with resultant maximum volume of air circulation per fan unit as well as throughout the treating chamber 1. It is to be particularly noted that the junction :c of said two concaved portions is on that side of a plane passing through the axis of the fan and normal to the direction of movement of the runs of the material, towards which the section of the fan between the shaft and the-material runs is rotating.

Iii)

The edges of the fan casing discharges are suitably secured to the conveyor chain .tracks 22 either directly when the tracks' are stationary, or by sliding joints if said tracks are movable, so that all the air circulated therethrough by the fansA 46 is effectively discharged into the spaces between the passes or runs R-Fig. III, of the fabric F, as indicated by the arrows a. The air then flows directly across the chamber 1 around the right-hand edges of the fabric F, as viewed in Fig. III, and is returned to the fans 46 through the radiators or heater banks 47 to the fan inlets 57, as indicated by the arrows b.

In order to permit the use of a maximum amount of air circulation, and thereby obtain a considerably better drying effect, means are provided to create slight differences in pressure on the opposite sides of the fabric F being tentered and dried. Such means may be in the form of bafes 63, either fixed or adjustable, adjacent to the tracks 22 at both sides of the machine, which restrict the air flow through certain of the paralleling passes or runs R formed by the progressing fabric F. These baffles 63 are only associated with the runs R where the pressure differences built up thereby will be in a direction to hold the fabric F flrmly on the tenter pins 42, which counteracts any tendency for said fabric to blow off, or become dislodged from said pins due to high air velocities, and obviously permits employment -of a considerably greater volume of air circulation than obtains in similar machines. At the same time such pressure differences cause the circulatory air to positively filter through the fabric F, thus coming in effective contact with the inside as Well as the outside fibers, and accomplishing a much more uniform treatment free from surface over-drying or baking so often encountered in the prior types of such machines. Furthermore, the uniformity of air flow obtained by each fan housing 55, coupled with the bailling of said ow by the means 63 to set up pressure differentials, for holding the fabric F on the tenter pins 42, enables the handling of volumes of air in such machines, hitherto impossible of attainment, and without any danger whatsoever of blowing o'r whipping" the fabric from said tenter pms. y

The radiator or heater means 47 are arranged in separate banks of different capacity in the zones above that relegated to cooling and including the runs R, as before referred to. These heater means 47 may be independently controlled to radiate different temperatures, preferably varying from a high degree in the top or wet zone to a low degree in the lower dry or cooling zone. The placing of the banks 47 on the suction sides of the several fans 46, between the fan inlets 57 and the tenter tracks 22, imposes certain restrictions on the air flow whichrcsults in maintaining a positive suction over the full extent of said banks, and ensures a uniform-aircirculation over the fabric F. Not onlyis it much more economical in' heat giving medium-con- Hand advantages of my invention will be obvious,

but it is desired to point out that in actual practice it has been proven the material treated is not only dried more effectively and economically, but that it is also thoroughly cooled and brought to a normal condition by the time it is ready for discharge from the machine, with resultant economy in operation, improved quality of the product, absolute uniformity in width, and avoidance of any variations in shade or streaky conditions existing therein.

In accordance with the provisions of the patentstatutes, I` have described the principle of operation of my invention, together with a practical constructive embodiments but it is to be understood the form Iillustrated is by Way of example only, 'as changes may be readily effected therein' to meet particular service conditions without departing 'from the essential features called for by the following claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim isz i y 1. In a machine for treating continuous material with means defining a plurality of runs for said material, the combination of a centrifugal fan and a casing therefor, said casing having a wall embodying two portions concaved towards the runs of the material, the junction of said two concaved portions being on that side of a plane passing `through the axis of the fan and normal to the direction of movement of the runs of the material, towards which the section of the fan between the shaft and the material runs is rotating.

2. Ina machine for treating continuous fabric including spaced tracks to guide endless-conveyors with tentering-means over a plurality of paralleling runs, the combination of a centrifugal fan and a casing' therefor, said casing comprising spaced components'having inlet openings i concentric with 4the axis of the fan and a connecting wall embodying two portions concaved toward theparalleling runs of the fabric, the junction of said concaved portions beingon that side of a plane passing through the axis of the fan and normal to the direction of movement of the runs of the material towards which the section of the fan between the shaft and the material runs is rotating, and said junction forming a dividing line for the air circulation, part being directed toward one end of the fan casing and part toward the other end with positive distribution of such divided circulation directly and evenly crosswise of the fabric runs.

HAROLD H. BELCHER. Y 

